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Published by TasekPauh Blogspot
on Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 6:33 PM.

Hmm..

BN Does Not Want A 'Fake Govt', Dewan Rakyat Told

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Bernama) -- The Barisan Nasional (BN) does not want to govern the country as a "fake government" by manipulating the election system as was done by some governments in other countries, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

"We don't do that in Malaysia. We govern the nation in accordance with the people's wish. Our government is a people's government, elected by the people, for the people," said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz when replying to M. Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat).

Kulasegaran had alleged that there were weaknesses in the country's election system like in the postal votes which gave advantage to the ruling party.

Refuting the claim, Mohamed Nazri said Malaysia's electoral system was fair and did not favour the Barisan as evident from its defeat in Kelantan and Terengganu.

"It was under the present election process that we were defeated in Kelantan and Terengganu. In the 1999 general election, Barisan candidates lost because of postal votes but we accepted it.

"If this system has flaws or favoured the ruling party, then how this can happen? It should not be the case of when we win, everything is rosy, when we lose, the system is unfair," he said.

Earlier, when replying to Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar (PAS-Tumpat) who sought explanation on calls to revamp the Election Commission (EC), Nazri said the exercise was not necessary at the moment.

"The EC too is capable of running the election efficiently and effectively under the existing legal framework. In fact, Malaysia's electoral system has been recognised and accepted at international level," he said.

Nazri said that if there were minor shortcomings that needed to be changed, the EC could forward its proposals to the government for consideration.

On the proposal to use e-mail to make voter registration easier, he said the method would create more problems.

As to the suggestion to use thumbprints as proof that a voter had cast the ballot as was practised in India, Mohamed Nazri said the system was impractical as the number of voters in a constituency in Malaysia was not that many and could be controlled.